You're a Duke
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Trouble once again brews for the Dukes when a stranger to the boys and Daisy, though not so much to their Uncle Jesse, arrives in Hazzard. What starts out seemingly innocent enough, ends up creating a rift between the family, one which might cause the end of their close bond forever if they can't fix what has become broken. This story is a sequel to Zero Hour in Hazzard County.
1. Chapter 1

You're a Duke

Chapter One

A few days passed since things were finally back to normal in Hazzard County, as Bo was back behind the wheel of the General Lee with Luke sitting beside him in the passenger's seat as they sped through the back roads leading to and from town, jumped over creeks and other cars for the fun of it, and continued running away from Sheriff Rosco and his deputies, Cletus and Enos, who was more of a friend to the Dukes as he held back to allow the boys room to run in.

One afternoon, as the boys were driving toward town to speak with Cooter about ordering some more paint for the General thanks to Rosco having scuffed it up pretty good during their last chase with him, Luke thought for a moment before finally deciding to pull a single sheet of paper from out of his shirt pocket, then handed it over to his cousin as he spoke up saying, "I wasn't going to give this to you until later, but I wanted to do it before everyone gave you theirs. I'm not really sure why, but…"

Bo kept one hand on the wheel, as he reached over to take the paper from Luke, then, between keeping his eyes on the road before him and taking quick glances at his cousin and the sheet in his hand, he asked, "What's this? Is this… is this the pink-slip for the General, with it signed over in my name? What are you giving it to me for? He belongs to both of us."

"That's true, so long as we're here in Hazzard still living together for however much longer that we are, but I doubt we'll both end up living together for a whole lot longer and when we finally do go our separate ways, I think it would be best if you take him, seeing as you do most of the driving anyway," Luke responded genuinely. "He means the same to the both of us, but I know how much it would kill you to part with him. I had to get you something fer your birthday, and this is really all I could think of, at least what might actually mean somethin' to you."

"My birthday?" Bo stated in confusion, then remembered that it had already passed him by without it phasing him that it had. "Huh, I guess I forgot. Shoot Luke, my birthday was weeks ago. It doesn't matter anymore."

Luke looked at his cousin as he answered firmly, "Yeah it does matter, Bo. It's just that… well, you were in a coma then. After everything's that's happened, after all you've been through and us worrying that you weren't going to make it, we all kind of forgot, until now at least. We're having a celebration tonight when we get back home. Don't you dare tell Uncle Jesse and Daisy that I ruined the surprise for you. I just wanted to give this to you now, while we were alone together and before all the excitement."

Seeing the pain that appeared on Luke's face when he mentioned the trouble that happened between them and the escaped convict nearly three months ago, Bo spoke up again saying, "I didn't realize all that was still bothering you. I should have, I'm sorry, but it's like I've told you, Luke, I don't blame you, so you need to stop punishing yourself for what he did. Benson's back behind bars, I'm alive and well, and I'm…"

"Still not recovered," Luke interrupted in frustration. "You still refuse to talk about the things he put you through with anyone, including yer kin and it's causing you to have nightmares. Don't think I haven't noticed."

"I noticed, but I promise you Luke, I'm fine," Bo replied as he handed the paper back over to his cousin, who placed it inside the glove compartment for safekeeping. "You really need to quit blaming yerself for what you had no control over and you know that."

Luke nodded and smiled, then responded, "Yeah, I know that. Let's get on over to Cooter's. Hopefully he'll have the paint we need on hand."

Bo laughed as he answered, "I don't see how he couldn't, seeing as we come to him for a touch up at least twice a month thanks to both Rosco and Cletus."

"Ain't that the truth," Luke replied as he laughed as well when they pulled up to the garage in town and saw their oldest friend walking out to greet them.

"Howdy boys!" the mechanic called out as both Bo and Luke climbed out of the windows, then walked to stand with their friend. "It looks like you gone and got the General a bit scuffed up again. Who was it this time, Rosco or Cletus?"

Luke smiled as he responded, "Who do you think? Rosco of course. Do you got some paint on hand?"

Cooter leaned down to take a look at the scratches and then answered, "Of course I've got it. How long have you known me for? I can paint him, but I think yer goin' to be needing a little body work done too, to buff out a few of these dents in him too."

"Yeah, we noticed that, but we ain't exactly got the money for it all right now," Bo replied in frustration as he ran his hand through his thick, blond hair.

"Don't you worry about the money none," their friend quickly responded as he stood again and smiled. "It's on the house, my gift to you for your birth… I mean… uh…"

Luke chuckled as he said quickly, "Don't worry, Cooter. I already spoiled the surprise. Bo knows all about the party we're throwing for him tonight. You'll be there, right?"

The mechanic grinned as he answered, "A pack of wild dogs or bulls couldn't keep me away. I'll be there. Will there be a cake?"

"Of course," Luke replied again. "Daisy's making it and Uncle Jesse's making one of Bo's favorites, posse stew."

"What's that?" Cooter asked, not having had the opportunity to try that meal of Jesse's before.

Bo responded, "You'll see when you get to our place later. And thanks, Cooter."

Their closest friend took Bo's hand in a shake and answered, "You've got it, Bo. Why don't you two boys take my truck home and I'll bring the General with me when I come over, all fixed up like he was brand new?"

"That sounds like a plan," Luke replied, then he and Bo got into the truck and drove away, heading home to where their Uncle Jesse and Daisy were finishing with the final preparations for the night's celebration ahead.

"Don't worry about them knowing that you and now Cooter have both ruined the surprise," Bo said as they continued driving. "I promise that I'll do my best to act like I haven't a clue. I'm no John Wayne or any other actor, but I think I can pretend well enough."

Luke nodded, then noticed Bo looking at him and stated in confusion, "What?"

Bo responded worryingly, "Nothing. I mean, you're not planning on leaving home anytime soon are you?"

"Nope, I plan on sticking around," Luke answered in sincerity. "At least until Uncle Jesse can't stand you and me any longer. Then, we'll both go and rejoin the Nascar circuit together. We're going to be right up at the top with Richard Petty one day."

"I like the sound of that," Bo replied with a smile, then turned back to the road ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

You're a Duke

Chapter Two

The party in Bo's honor went off without a hitch. Bo acted surprised as he promised Luke he would and neither Daisy, nor Uncle Jesse discovered that he knew. After they ate, the Dukes, Cooter, Enos, and Cletus all gathered within the living room to give their gifts. Luke quickly stated that he would give his gift to Bo later, to cover up that he had already done so. Daisy had purchased her cousin a set of old country records by artists such as Hank Williams, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, and none other than Waylon Jennings, one of which happened to be signed by the star back when he had come through Hazzard over six months ago.

"These are great, Daisy," Bo stated gratefully and then pulled her into a hug. "Thank you. I can't wait to hear them play."

"You're welcome, sugar," she answered as she finally let go so that he could open Enos' and Cletus' gifts next, and finally their uncle's gift, which turned out to be the small package which the boys remembered giving Jesse on the day months ago when they had worked in the post office for Miz Tisdale.

Luke looked at their uncle in surprise as he handed the package to Bo, who took it nervously as he too stared at their family patriarch. Bo finally opened the box, then carefully pulled out a small book, a diary which he now saw once belonged to his mother. He flipped through the old pages and found most of them to be filled, as she had apparently written everyday leading up to his birth, all until the very last day, the day that he was born.

Bo quickly looked back to his uncle as he asked in confusion, "I don't understand, how did you get this? I mean, who sent it to you and how did they get a hold of it?"

Jesse looked at his youngest boy sadly and responded, "I told you before that it was someone once dear to me, but who he was isn't what's important. What is important is that this diary of your mother's has been returned and is now in the hands of the one person who it truly belongs to, to you Bo."

The youngest of the Duke clan simply stared down at the book, then started walking toward his room until he stopped and looked back at him again as he replied despondently, "Thank you, Uncle Jesse. Really, thank you."

Without another word, he simply continued to his and Luke's room and closed the door behind him so that he could be alone to read the book, while the rest of his family and friends stared after him, then turned back to Jesse, not really sure what they should say or do at that moment. Daisy began to pick up the dirty dishes from the party as she worked to place them into the sink, while Enos quickly stepped in to help her. Jesse thanked Enos, Cletus, and Cooter for coming, then escorted them out until he and his family were alone. Luke attempted to find out more about the diary and how it came to him, but Jesse refused to answer any of his questions. All the family patriarch would say was that Bo's mother had asked that the diary be given to her son one day when he was ready for it, and that was his final word on the subject.

The next morning, Bo looked tired like he's been most other mornings since his kidnapping due to his dreams, but this morning was different because he had stayed up most of the night reading. He was happy and he didn't complain once about getting his early morning chores done. While they worked, the youngest of the three cousins was eager to share the things that he read from the diary with them, and both Daisy and Luke were enjoying listening to him, not to mention seeing him so happy. After everything he's been through, he really needed this to help lift his spirits.

"Hey, what do you say we run into town and pick up the feed for the animals?" Luke said finally once their chores were all done.

"Sure thing," Bo answered as he quickly hugged their uncle, kissed Daisy on her cheek, then ran out to the General, followed close behind by Luke, who seemed tired himself, making Bo realize that Luke had never come into their room to sleep the night before. "Oh, gee Luke, did you end up sleeping on the couch in the living room last night? I'm sorry, I honestly didn't mean for you to…"

Luke cut him off saying, "No, no, it's fine. I didn't come in because I didn't want to disturb you. I figured you could use some time alone. I am glad that receiving your mother's diary made you this happy. I have to admit, when you walked away from your party last night, I didn't think you were okay. I'm glad I was wrong."

The younger man responded, "Me too. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to think at first, but after reading for a while, it was nice to read about my mother's life. I had no idea what kind of woman she was, except for from the things Uncle Jesse told me about her. Now I have a better idea."

"What about your father?" Luke asked curiously.

"She didn't really write much about him," Bo replied sadly, then cleared his throat and changed the subject. "What do you say that we ask Crazy Cooter if he wants to join us for lunch and a drink down at the Boar's Nest?"

They arrived in town and Luke nodded as he answered, "Yeah, that'd be good. It'll be fun, but we should probably get the feed and supplies first. You know, just in case today's one of the days that Boss and Rosco decide to pull one of their tricks on us."

"I think you might have spoken too soon," Bo stated as he noticed Enos walking toward them as they parked their car down the street from the hay and feed store, also not far from the sheriff's station. "You go and get started. I'll find out what Enos wants."

"Fine, but if he tries to arrest you, run," Luke called back to him as he started to jog off toward the store while he waved to Enos.

When he walked inside, he walked up to the counter to pay for their order when some stranger to Hazzard walked up behind him to wait in line and as Luke walked back outside to wait for his cousin to join him, Cooter ran over as he called out, "Hey there buddy roe! How are things going today? What's Enos talking to Bo about?"

Luke responded, "I'm not sure. It's probably just to make sure he's alright, after last night. How would you like to join us down at the Boar's Nest for a drink and somethin' to eat?"

"That'd be great," he started to reply until he was cut off by the stranger as he walked over to them.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but you both appear to be from around these parts," the man said quickly. "I was hoping you could help me."

Luke looked at the man oddly, as if he knew him from somewhere, but pushed the feeling aside as he answered, "If we can. What can we do for you?"

The man looked around the town, then turned back to them as he responded, "Well, I've come here to Hazzard in hope of getting to know my son. The problem is, I've never actually met him, so I don't know who he is or what he looks like. I only saw him briefly on the night he was born, if you can believe it. However, I believe there is someone here who can help me, a Jesse Duke? I know him, but I can't recall where he lives."

"You're in luck then," Luke replied as he looked at the stranger suspiciously, suddenly feeling very nervous, then quickly looked down the street toward Bo before continuing. "Jesse Duke happens to be my uncle. My cousins and me, we live with him on our farm. I'm Luke and you are?"

"Jesse's your uncle?" the man asked skeptically, without saying who he was. "Then that means… that means that you know my son. You're his cousin then. Is that him over there, Beauregard Duke?"

Luke fearfully looked over toward Bo again, as did Cooter, then he quickly moved to stand directly in front of the stranger, who started to walk toward his younger cousin as he answered, "Look, I can see that you're anxious to meet yer son, but please, you've got to speak with our Uncle Jesse before you speak with Bo. He's been through a lot over the last several weeks. Learning his father might be alive will only upset him and I won't let you do that to him, not unless our uncle can confirm that you are who you say you are. If you really are his father, then I'd rather the truth come from Uncle Jesse and not some complete stranger. And if you hurt Bo, then so help me…"

The man raised his hands in his defense as he responded, "All right, just take it easy there, sonny. Very well, I'll speak with your uncle first then. He is after all my brother. It's nice to see that you're so protective of my boy. I'll find out from that deputy over there where I can find you. Until tonight then, Luke."

"You never did say your name!" Luke called out to him as he started to walk away.

"My name's Geoffrey," the man replied and then continued walking.

Cooter moves to stand beside his friend and asked worryingly, "What do you think? I don't trust 'im."

Luke stared at his cousin as he said in frustration, "I don't trust him either, whether he's Bo's real father or not. Uncle Jesse told us that his parents died in a car accident. If he lied to us about that, then the truth must be real bad and Bo's about to get hurt all over again."


	3. Chapter 3

You're a Duke

Chapter Three

When Bo finished speaking with Enos, he walked over to where he saw Luke standing outside of the store waiting for him, as well as Cooter, then he quickly spoke up saying, "Don't worry, there was no need to run. Enos just wanted to see that I was alright after I walked out on you all last night. I really did make everyone nervous. I didn't…"

While he was talking, Bo noticed that neither Luke or Cooter were paying any attention to him and saw the nervous looks on their faces, so he stopped, then continued as he asked, "Is everything okay? Luke, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," his older cousin quickly replied as he turned to look at his cousin, acting as though nothing was wrong. "What'd Enos want?"

"Nothing important," Bo responded in confusion as he looked between Luke and their friend, looking for an explanation for their strange behavior, but knowing that he wouldn't get one. "Are the supplies ready?"

Luke nodded as he motioned for Bo to go inside ahead of him, then answered, "You go on ahead. I'll meet you in there in a second to help carry the feed out."

Bo didn't argue and when they were alone again, Luke quickly turned back to Cooter as he stated, "Listen, I need you to take him on ahead to the Boar's Nest and try to keep him there for as long as you can. I've got to make up some excuse to go home so I can speak with Uncle Jesse. I'm just not sure what. Do you think you can do that?"

"Sure I can, but Bo ain't dumb, you know?" Cooter replied in frustration. "He already knows something's up."

"I know, but I don't have a choice," Luke said worryingly. "Thank you, Cooter. We'll be back in a minute."

Luke finally walked inside the store after his cousin and together they carried the items they had ordered back out to the General, then Cooter was about to make the offer until he was interrupted by Rosco, who walked over to the Dukes and the county's mechanic, as he spoke up saying, "I hope you Dukes don't have any plans for today because it just so happens that you two boys will be spending the rest of this afternoon and probably the next several days behind bars, so put yer hands up and I don't want any funny business from you."

Bo objected as he responded, "Rosco, you can't arrest us. We didn't do nothin'."

"Well you see, that ain't exactly true, now is it?" the sheriff answered with a chuckle as he pulled his gun out as well as his handcuffs. "You two have been smuggling in illegal narcotics again. Naughty, naughty. Cletus, show 'em what I'm talking about."

"I'm real sorry about this, Bo, Luke," Boss Hogg's nephew, who had walked over to them just after Rosco had, replied as he quickly started rummaging through the supplies they had bought until he found a bag of small white pills buried within the oats they bought for their animals, causing both Bo and Luke to turn to each other in shock, then both attempted to run, to no avail. "Hold it there you two!"

The lawmen had their guns out and aimed right at them, so the Duke boys had no choice, but to stop as they slowly raised their hands while Luke tried to protest again stating, "Please Rosco, Cletus, you can't do this! We don't deal drugs and you know that. Now isn't a good time for one of your false arrests."

While they were being led into the jail, with Cooter right behind them, Bo added, "This is one of Boss' set ups and something tells me you know that too. We at least get a phone call. Tell Mabel to make a call to Uncle Jesse."

"Don't you worry none about that right now," Boss Hogg responded once they entered the building and were marched right into one of the cells, then had the barred door closed behind them, locking them inside. "We'll take care of calling your uncle later, but for now, yer jist going to cool your heals in here for awhile to think about what it is you've done. We'll see if we can't get this little mess cleared up for you, if we find you're speaking the truth."

"Yeah, I bet you will," Cooter answered as he remained with his friends as far as cell the Duke boys were placed in. "Boss, Rosco, you know you can't treat them this way. They have rights."

Boss Hogg replied gruffly, "Yeah and they'll be able to exercise their rights soon, but for now…"

Knowing that all of their objections were falling on deaf ears, Cooter interrupted the little man in white, prompting him and the two men working for him to simply turn and leave the room without another word, as the mechanic turned back to Bo and Luke and said, "Don't you worry, I'll go and get Uncle Jesse and let him know what's going on here."

"And tell him about that other thing too," Luke quickly added, looking at their friend pleadingly in hope that he understood exactly what he meant without having to ask him to clarify in front of Bo. "Please."

"What was that all about?" Bo asked in frustration once the two of them were alone and able to talk freely, not liking being so in the dark about whatever was clearly going on between his cousin and their oldest friend. "What are you hiding from me, Luke?"

Luke breathed in heavily, then let it out and sighed before finally turning around to look at his cousin as he responded, "It's nothing for you to worry about, Bo. I promise."

Bo shook his head as he stated, "I don't believe you. You and Cooter have been acting weird ever since I came over to you after speaking with Enos. Now, what happened?"

"Please, I need you to trust me on this, Bo," the older cousin answered pleadingly. "There's something going on and you will find out about it, but it's impossible for me to explain because even I don't know hardly anything. It's something Uncle Jesse's going to have to explain, to the both of us."

"I do trust you, Luke," Bo replied worryingly as he slowly backed away and finally took a seat on the single cot within the cell. "But if you're worried that I can't handle it, whatever it is you're trying to protect me from, then quit it. I'm not a child that needs to be looked after."

Luke took a seat beside him and looked at him as he responded, "No you're not, but you are my younger cousin and I will always look after you whether you want me to or not. You do the same for me, and I really doubt you'd want things any different."

Bo thought for a moment and then smiled as he answered, "No, I reckon I wouldn't. So, how are we going to break out of here this time?"


	4. Chapter 4

You're a Duke

Chapter Four

As soon as he left the jail, Cooter got back to his garage and called Jesse and Daisy over his CB, knowing that one or the both of them were close by in case times like this arose, which was often as Boss Hogg and Sheriff Coltrane have been trying to bring down the Dukes, mainly Bo and Luke, for as long as all of Hazzard County can remember. This certainly wasn't the first time he's had to make this call and it definitely won't be the last. Daisy came back over the radio after his second call out, using her usual call sign.

" _Bo Peep here, Crazy Cooter,_ " she said sweetly. " _What can we do you for?_ "

"I'm afraid our boys are in trouble again," their mechanic friend responded in frustration. "They've been arrested again, another one of Hogg's big set ups. I suggest you and Jesse get to town as soon as you can."

Uncle Jesse quickly grabbed the radio mic from his niece as he replied worryingly, " _I had a feeling that today was going to be one of these days. What's the charge this time?_ "

Cooter quickly responded, "Illegal narcotics, or something like that. I'll explain it when you get here. I suggest that you hurry. There's more and it ain't good neither."

" _All right, we're on our way,_ " Jesse answered gruffly." _Illegal narcotics… Thanks for the heads up, Cooter. We're gone._ "

Meanwhile, back in town…

Not long after putting Bo and Luke inside one of the cells a few feet away from the booking counter, Boss Hogg and his sheriff walked behind the counter to write up the charges against the Duke Boys, laughing while they did so. The boys knew the charges were false, but they decided it was best to wait for their uncle and cousin to arrive before trying to escape in case they didn't have to, though Luke came up with a plan anyway should it come down to it.

"So, how much bail money is it going to cost us to get us out of here this time, huh Rosco?" Luke asked from their cell, after he and Bo finally got fed up with listening to them ramble on about how they caught them for being drug mules.

Rosco chuckled again as he responded, "It's only going to cost your Uncle Jesse a hundred dollars."

Boss objected, "A hundred dollars? Uh… uh… It's gonna cost you five hundred dollars, each."

"A thousand dollars?" Bo stated angrily. "Are you out of your minds? You know we can't pay you no thousand dollars, especially since we didn't do the things you're framing us for."

"Don't you worry none, boys," a stranger, whom Luke recognized as the man claiming to be Bo's father, replied smugly as he walked inside the jail and up to the counter to speak with the sheriff on their behalf. "There'll be no need for you or your family to pay up any money. I'll have you both out of here in the next ten minutes."

Bo looked at the man in confusion as he asked, "Who's that? And why is he here to help us?"

Luke ignored his cousin as he called out to the man saying nervously, "Look mister, we're real grateful, but this here is a family matter."

"That's right, friend," Boss said in agreement as he stared at the stranger oddly, wondering why a man new to town would want to help Hazzard's biggest troublemakers. "We don't want yer money, so git. Yer money isn't good here."

"That's just fine because I'm not here to bail these boys out," the man answered coolly as he looked between J.D., the sheriff, and the two deputies, who had all gathered within the jail at this point. "I'm here to right the wrong that's been done here. I heard these boys' protests when your men here arrested them outside a few minutes ago. From what I saw outside, I don't believe you can arrest these boys on account that you can't prove whatever it is you found on them actually belongs to them. For all you know, what you found within their supplies could belong to the shopkeeper, or to whoever it was that shipped the supplies to the store."

Enos looked at the man with a smile on his face as he responded, "That's true. Are you some kind of lawyer or somethin'? You sure sound like one."

The stranger reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his credentials, then held it out for each of the lawmen to see as he replied, "As a matter of fact, I am. I'm from up north, New York. Been a lawyer for over twenty-five years. If you don't set them free, I can bring charges up against you for false arrest, unless you can prove that they're guilty. Your evidence here is purely circumstantial."

"Jist why are you helping them?' Rosco asked as Bo had earlier. "They're good fer nothing law breakers and complete strangers to you, aren't they?"

"Mostly," the man answered again as he picked up the cells' keys and held them out to Rosco in an attempt to get the sheriff moving to set the boys free like he requested. "Except that one of them also happens to be my son, the younger one. I go by Geoffrey Crocker now, ever since I moved away from here a long time ago, but my name was once Duke, Jeff Duke."

While everyone stared at the man in shock at his revelation, Luke immediately looked over at Bo in fear, seeing that he was more surprised and confused than the rest of them, until he shook his head and turned away from everyone, including Luke as it donned on him that this was clearly the reason for his cousin's strange reaction earlier, before their arrest. For the first time in his life, Luke couldn't think of anything to say at that moment.

"Your son?" Boss repeated, as if he hadn't heard correctly, while, without realizing what it was he was doing, Rosco handed the keys over to Enos, who quickly stepped down to stand in front of the boys' cell to unlock its door. "Bo Duke is your son? But that's not possible. Neither of these boys have parents. They've been raised by their uncle their whole lives."

"This conversation's meant to be spoken between our own family, Boss," Luke finally stated coldly as he stepped out and moved toward the doors leading out of the building, followed by Bo until he quickly moved to walk out in front of everyone. "If you can find proof we committed whatever crimes yer accusing me and Bo of, then we'll see you later, but you won't because we didn't do it. Bye."

Once they were outside and clear of Boss Hogg and Rosco, Luke watched Bo walk straight to the General and get into the passenger's seat without a word, then quickly turned back to glare at the stranger as he spoke again saying angrily, "I thought I made it clear that you needed to speak to our uncle first before letting Bo know who you claim to be. I have no idea what I can say to him right now. Why did you have to do that?"

Geoffrey shrugged and then responded, "I saw you boys were in trouble. I watched the sheriff and his deputy arrest you and heard part of the conversation. I wanted to help."

"Because you're Bo's father?" Luke asked snidely. "Well, thanks, but we would have been just fine without your help. Bo and me are always being arrested under false charges and we always manage to prove ourselves innocent. You need to leave and come by our farm later. We need time to find out the truth from our uncle before you go and ruin anything else. "

"I think it might be a little late for that," the stranger replied as he pointed behind Luke upon seeing Jesse pull up behind the boys' orange car in an old pickup truck, the family patriarch staring in shock at the slightly younger man standing with his oldest nephew. "It looks like that conversation might just happen sooner than you planned."

Both Luke and Daisy saw the worry and surprise upon their uncle's face as he swiftly got out of his truck and made his way over to the newcomer and Luke as he called out angrily, "What in tarnation are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that you were never to come back here and what…"

Jesse stopped short upon looking back at his boys' car as he saw his youngest, whom he could see was upset as he refused to look toward either of them, it being clear to him that Bo obviously knew who the man was, then he started to walk toward him, but turned back to his brother and continued, "You and me are going to have ourselves a talk, but before we do, I need to speak with my family."

"I understand," Geoffrey answered calmly. "But just so you know, it was an accident, me coming upon your boys and letting slip that Beauregard happens to be my son."

"His name is Bo," Luke stated coldly, even though that didn't really matter at the moment. "He prefers Bo. So it's true then, that this man really is Bo's father?"

Daisy looked over at her younger cousin worryingly, then back between the rest of her family and the stranger, then finally turned to their uncle as she asked, "Is this really true Uncle Jesse?"

Jesse nodded sadly as he looked between her and Luke and then finally turned again to look toward his youngest as he spoke up saying fearfully, "I'm afraid it is true, Daisy. We have much to talk about when we get home. I just hope the boy is able to understand."


	5. Chapter 5

You're a Duke

Chapter Five

After the Dukes and the stranger claiming to be one of the boys' father left the jail, Rosco looked over at the two empty cells and then turned back to his brother in law in confusion as he asked, "Uh… Boss, you do realize that we just set Bo and Luke free, don't you?"

Boss glared back at his sheriff while he put another cigar in his mouth and lit it up, then stated, "Yeah, so what? They can be that fella's problem now. I can't believe that Bo Duke has a father, after all this time."

"Yeah, neither can I, but uh… you see, I thought them boys were supposed to be our problem," Rosco answered, still feeling confused. "We were in the middle of setting them up to take the fall for the drugs our new friends asked us to look after, remember?"

"Aagh! Rosco, why didn't you say anything sooner?" the police commissioner replied angrily. "You numbskull! What am I even paying you for?"

Rosco responded, "Well, you're hardly paying me because you're married to my sister and because I'm willing to bend the rules so that we can get rich, or at least you can."

J.D. scowled as he answered, "That's right. Next time, remind me sooner or yer fired! Now, we need to come up with a new plan to put them Duke boys away again. The drugs are no longer going to work thanks to that hotshot lawyer from New York being one of them Duke's daddy. In fact, it's going to be a whole lot harder to frame them for anything if he decides to stick around here in Hazzard permanently. Enos! I want… Where are you?"

"Enos, you dipstick, why were you standing behind me?" the sheriff asked coldly when he looked all around him as Enos stepped out and moved to stand in front of the two men in wait for their orders. "I want to be able to see you at all times as long as we are standing in the same room, so never stand behind me. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir," Enos replied timidly. "Did you need me to do something for you, Sheriff? Boss Hogg, Sir?"

Boss quickly responded, "I want you to do something for me. I want you to check up on that lawyer fella, to make sure that he really is on the up and up."

Enos looked between the two men as he answered nervously, "I'm not really sure that that's a good idea, Boss, uh… Mr. Hogg, Sir. I mean, he is after all Bo's father. I don't think it's right for me to…"

"I don't pay you to do what's right, but to do whatever it is I say," J.D. replied coolly. "Do it, or yer going to be looking for another job. And don't just look under the name Jeff Duke. You heard him, he's been goin' by the name Geoffrey Crocker for years. Find out everything there is to know about him. I'm telling you, he's no good."

"He doesn't seem like a bad guy to me," Rosco responded naively.

Cletus finally spoke up from where he was sitting down at one of the desks saying, "Actually, it seemed to me that them Duke boys were a bit suspicious of him. At least Luke did. Bo just looked surprised, like we all did."

Boss Hogg nodded sternly as he answered in agreement, "That's right, so do your duty. Cletus, you help 'im. Get out of here, both of you."

"Yes Sir, Uncle Boss!" Cletus quickly as he ran out the doors, but came back inside a few seconds later. "Uh… Uncle Boss, Enos and me, we kind a sort a need to stay here to look into this guy; police work you know."

"Fine then, Rosco and me will go, so you can git to work," Boss replied as he stepped out from behind the counter, followed by his sheriff, then headed toward the doors themselves. "Besides, it almost lunch time anyway."

Rosco looked at his fat little buddy again in confusion as he asked, "But Boss, you jist finished breakfast not more than an hour ago?"

The man in white in charge of everything in Hazzard responded eagerly, "Yes, but I'm hungry, so quit criticizing me and move it. By the time we get to the Boar's Nest, Lulu can have a nice meal prepared and ready us… mainly me."

Boss Hogg and Rosco left the jail and headed for the commissioner's other main place of business, while Enos and Cletus stayed behind to start an inquiry on this stranger to Hazzard, who claimed himself to be a spiffy lawyer all the way from New York, not to mention Bo's father. At first Enos thought the man seemed like a nice guy, but after hearing Cletus express his suspicions of the man, the more experienced deputy started to realize that his friend may have been right after all, especially as he thought about Luke's reaction when the lawyer first tried to bail him and Bo out. It was clear he was upset and Bo wasn't thrilled about the revelation of him being his father either. So, he got to work by making a few calls, hoping he wouldn't find out anything about this man that could cause more trouble or worry for his friends. Cletus was happy to help.


	6. Chapter 6

You're a Duke

Chapter Six

Jesse and Daisy finally got back into his pickup truck, as the newfound member of the Duke family got into his own vehicle, while Luke finally climbed through the window on the driver's side of the General Lee, looking sadly over at his cousin, who was still refusing to look at him or anyone else. It was clear that he was confused and angry, but at who, Luke wasn't really sure. The oldest cousin still hadn't a clue about what he could possibly say, but Bo's unnerving silence wasn't something he could bear for much longer.

So as he started to drive, Luke spoke frankly saying, "I know that this won't mean much to you, but Bo, I'm sorry. For not telling you the truth earlier and well, for everything else too."

Without turning to look at him, Bo replied softly, "I'm not mad at you, Luke. Not really. The only thing you lied to me about was that I had nothing to worry about and we both know that that's not true. How could Uncle Jesse have lied to me, to us, all these years? How is that man my father?"

"I don't know, but Uncle Jesse has a good reason for keeping this from you," the older Duke answered worryingly. "He has to. He would never lie to us, would never keep something like this from us, unless the reason for doing so was important and you know that as well as I do."

"I'm scared, Luke," Bo admitted reluctantly when he finally turned his head to look over at his cousin, whom he loved like a brother, allowing him to see the fear in his eyes. "Him showing up here is going to destroy everything. Even if he is… if he is my da… He isn't a father. And he ain't a Duke."

Luke reached over and gently patted Bo's leg comfortingly as he responded, "No he ain't. You're right about that."

When the Duke boys pulled up to their farm, both Bo and Luke remained inside the General as Jesse and Daisy arrived behind them, followed by the man who started all of the trouble between them, then Luke climbed out as he glared coldly at Geoffrey and said, "You may be our Uncle Jesse's brother, but you ain't a part of our family, so you don't get to be a part of this."

"It's because he is my brother and Bo's daddy that he needs to be a part of this, Luke," Jesse replied quickly, but calmly as he turned to look at his youngest as he too climbed out from their car, then stood back while Luke came around and moved to stand beside him as he placed his hand upon his shoulder for support. "Bo, I need you to listen to me and I need you to understand. The things I'm about to explain, the truth that I've kept from you your whole life, I never did it to hurt you. I just wanted to protect you. Though you can be more headstrong than even Luke and Daisy, you also have a gentle spirit and what happened, it won't be easy for you to hear."

"Maybe not, but I have the right to know the truth," Bo answered with a pleading look in his eyes when he finally turned to look at his uncle as he slowly moved closer to the man that raised him. "Please, Uncle Jesse. You say that this man is my daddy, your brother, but that isn't good enough. I need to know why you raised me instead of him after my mamma died. Did she really die, or is she still alive too?"

Uncle Jesse motioned for everyone to move inside their house and once they found themselves in the living room, Uncle Jesse and Daisy took a seat on the couch as the middle cousin laid her hands over his in hope of giving her uncle the strength he needed to talk through this, Geoffrey sat down in one of the chairs in the corner of the room in silence, while both Bo and Luke remained standing in front of the other members of their family.

Finally Jesse responded, "First of all, your mamma did die. If she could have raised you, she would have. She loved you more than anything else in this whole world. But there was an accident, just as I told you, only your daddy didn't die. The truth is that he was barely hurt, but something worse happened that night, to your mother."

"It's okay, Uncle Jesse," Daisy stated softly as she snuggled closer and her grip tightened after he stopped speaking for several moments, then he pulled her into a hug. "Go on."

"She sustained severe injuries in the accident as she and your daddy were coming here to visit me, and Luke, and Daisy, both of whom were very, very young, too young to remember that night," the family patriarch continued sadly. "They were close, to our home, and your daddy knew that she wasn't going to survive the night, so he did what he thought was best. He pulled your poor mother out of the wreck and carried her the rest of the way here, to me so that we could try to make her as comfortable as we could. Your father did the right thing by bringing her here to me. After she died…"

It was then that Bo's father stood up in front of his son as spoke to him replying cruelly, "After she died, I was a fool and I left. I left you behind with my brother because I couldn't bear to look at you any longer after you kill…"

Luke became angry as he immediately punched the stranger across his face with enough force to knock him down to the floor, as Uncle Jesse stood quickly, looking down at the man down on the floor and shouted, "How dare you speak to my boy like that! Don't you dare blame Bo for what happened that night. What happened that night was tragic and…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on!" Bo interrupted as he stared at his uncle and father in confusion, the hurt very apparent on his face. "What does he mean, what do you mean you blamed me for what happened? I don't understand!"

"Your mamma was weeks away from giving birth to you," Jesse answered fearfully as he moved to try to pull his youngest nephew into a hug, but settled for placing his hands gently on both sides of his face in order to get Bo to look at him, allowing their guardian to see the tears forming in his eyes while tears slowly formed in his own. "However, the accident caused complications and you were, well you were born early. If your daddy had called for an ambulance or had found a way to get your mamma to the Tri County Emergency, we would have lost you both. I helped her to bring you into this world before she died."

Bo pushed his uncle's hands away and backed away from him and the rest of his family, both Luke and Daisy being too stunned by the revelation to be able to say or do anything, then the youngest finally looked between him and his father as he spoke again in anger responding, "So, she died, because of me. And you left, because you blame me for killing her."

Uncle Jesse quickly replied, "No! Lily… your mother, died because of the injuries she sustained in the accident that night. The weather was bad, your father he lost control of the vehicle… She begged me to save you no matter what, so I did and it was the one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make, not because I didn't care about you then, but because I knew what was going to happen. The moment that I pulled you into my arms, was one of the happiest moments of my entire life. I loved you as much then, as I love you now and I will always love you."

"I don't… it doesn't matter anymore," Bo answered sadly as he looked between both Luke and Daisy in pain, then quickly turned and ran out the door, crossing the yard to the General as he got in and sped off, while Luke ran out to try to catch him, being unable to do so.

"I'm going after him," Luke said swiftly as he started to run toward Daisy's jeep, Dixie, but he was pulled back by Jesse, who simply pulled his oldest into his arms and held him close.

The patriarch finally responded, "Bo needs some time to himself. He's in a lot of pain right now."

Luke pulled away from his uncle as he replied worryingly, "Which is exactly why I need to find him, Uncle Jesse. He may want to be alone, he may not ever want to see us again right now, but that don't matter none. He needs to be surrounded by the people who love him, now more than ever. You and Daisy stay here and deal with Mr. Crocker here. He claims to have come back here to Hazzard in hope of getting to know Bo. It don't matter though, Geoffrey. Because you ain't gonna. You lost that chance the night that you abandoned him. And it's a real shame. Bo's a good man and the most loyal a person anyone could ever meet."

"My cousin's right," Daisy answered in agreement as Luke left to follow after Bo. "How could you do this to him, mister? Do you have any idea what you have done? Do you care, at all?"

"I don't believe he does, sweet Daisy," Uncle Jesse responded as he glared at his brother, suddenly getting a reading on him that he should have seen the moment he laid eyes on him again after all these years. "He didn't come here to get to know his son at all, did you Jeff? You've gotten yourself into some trouble again up north, just as you did down here before you started to destroy your relationship with Lily. The truth is Daisy, that my brother and Bo's mamma were having trouble in their marriage and it had a lot to do with his gambling habits, among other things."

Geoffrey defended himself as he spoke again replying, "That may be so, but it didn't mean that I didn't love her. I loved her more than I ever loved anyone. And I wanted to try to make things up to my son."

Jesse moved in front of him as he answered coldly, "It'll be a cold day in Hades when I let you near my boy again. I suggest you leave Hazzard, or I will force you out if I have to. And you know I can do it."

"Don't you forget, big brother, I am a lawyer," the man responded smugly. "And if I want to see my son, the law will be on my side. Remember that. I can make sure that you won't ever be able to see him again."

"You wouldn't!" Daisy cried out angrily as she stepped forward and suddenly slapped him hard across his face, then wiped away the tears that ran down her face. "Bo is twenty-four years old. He can live wherever he wants and he would never live with the likes of you after all you've done. We won't allow you to hurt him anymore than you already have. Now you git out of our house, before I call our own law enforcement here and have them place you under arrest for trespassing!"


	7. Chapter 7

You're a Duke

Chapter Seven

After he had left his brother's farm, Geoffrey drove back into town, having gotten lost twice on the way since he wasn't following anyone this time. When he arrived, he pulled up to the small hotel where he had rented a room and when he walked inside, he found an associate of his from up in New York lying back against the single bed's headrest. Upon his friend's arrival, the newcomer smiled at Geoffrey, then sat up as his friend sat down.

"So, how does it feel to be back to your hometown after all this time?" the associate asked coolly. "Have you met up with your older brother yet?"

"Actually yes, and my long lost son too," Geoffrey responded in frustration as he pulled off his coat and hat, then tossed them into the chair across from him. "It didn't happen like I thought it would, let me tell you. I ran into my son and his hotheaded cousin by accident. My boy is a good lookin' kid, but his uncle raised him and them other kids of his to be just as high and mighty as he is. He already hates me."

The other man shook his head and then asked again, "So, I take it that they're not going to be able to help you out of our jam then?"

Bo's father shook his head as he answered, "Not in the way I expected, Sam. I figured that they would take me back in if I explained I wanted to get to know my boy, to make up for my mistakes, but I was wrong. Jesse saw right through my lies. We're going to have to come up with a way to get our hands on the money we need instead. Hiding out here is not going to work out for us after all. They won't protect me."

"I warned you it was a bad plan," Sam replied in frustration. "Do you think it's possible that our enemies won't even think to look for two big time lawyers from out of New York way down here in a small, hillbilly town like Hazzard County in Georgia?"

"It's possible, but these men want the money we owe them, and if we can't give it to them, then they will take it out of us instead and they won't stop," Geoffrey responded. "No, we need a new plan just in case."

His associate looked up at his friend as he stood, then asked, "What exactly do you suggest? It's not like we can rob your family. You said it before we even arrived here, they're simple farmers and amongst the poorest of the poor here in this town and we owe Driscoll nearly five hundred thousand dollars. I doubt anyone around here has that kind of money."

Geoffrey shook his head and quickly answered, "No, robbery is not how we're going to do this, but extortion might work."

"I don't understand," Sam stated in confusion. "Who are we extorting?"

"I have supposedly come to get to know my son," the man who once considered himself to be a part of the family he had already begun to tear apart replied smugly. "I haven't quite put the pieces all together yet, but I have a feeling he's going to be the key to getting ourselves what we want."

Sam stood up finally as he shook his head in protest and responded, "Look, I realize that we don't have many options and I know that you may not care about your family anymore, but I cannot be a part of whatever your planning if kidnapping is a part of it. I can handle prison for robbery, extortion, or any other kind of victimless crime, but I will not go to prison for getting your boy injured or worse, killed, should this go wrong."

Jeff Duke answered, "Don't you worry, kidnapping my boy isn't my plan. I don't wish him harm. He is after all my wife's son and she loved him very much, despite the fact that he killed her. But, I am a lawyer and I threatened my brother that I would make sure that he would never see his nephew again. I can use that to my advantage. Him being twenty-four will make it difficult, seeing as he is too old to have him removed from his family by force. He is already angry with Jesse for lying to him all these years. He may be willing to hear me out. Maybe I can use that."

"When you figure out how all of this can help us get our hands on that kind of money or how it can help us remain hidden from Driscoll and his men, let me know," the associate replied as he went to the door to leave. "I've got a room just down the hall. If you don't mind my asking, why is it that you hate your family so much? I mean, I know you blame your son for killing Lily after that accident, but what did they ever do to you to make you so bitter toward them?"

"My instinct told me that I should have brought Lily to the hospital," Geoffrey replied coldly. "But Lily's love for my family and for our unborn child made her beg me to take her to them instead so that they could save him and I listened. Believe me, I hated myself for years too for that, but they chose that boy over my wife. Jesse claims that neither one of them would have survived the trip to the hospital, but there's no way to know that for sure. And finally, when I left that night after she died, Jesse never once tried to contact me again. He turned his back on me too. Now he's going to regret it."


	8. Chapter 8

You're a Duke

Chapter Eight

Luke drove Dixie as fast as he could in hope of catching up with his younger cousin, knowing that if Bo jumped the creek ahead, there would be no chance until he stopped and then he would have to find him. The General Lee was an incredible vehicle and with Bo behind his wheel, he was undeniably unbeatable. Neither of the Duke boys were ever able to find out which of them were the better driver and as far as all of Hazzard was concerned, the two were equal in skill, but if truth be told, Luke knew Bo had him beat and he was proud of that, secretly of course.

After seeing the direction he was heading, Luke swiftly took a few extra turns across the winding country roads in attempt to cut out behind Bo and once he had him in his sights, Luke quickly picked up the CB mic as he called out to him, "Bo! Please, please stop. You don't have to run. I want to help you, please!"

When there was no response, Luke continued pleading, "Bo, you are not responsible for what happened to your mother. Forget about what that man said. He's a liar. Please pull over so I can talk to you."

The General and Dixie were both coming upon a cliff up ahead and for a brief, terrifying moment, Luke believed that Bo wasn't going to turn in time to avoid flying off, afraid that that might be his plan, but thankfully he managed to swerve, the orange car's back end dipping out over the cliff's edge as he did so, spinning the car around until he finally came to a stop a short distance from where Luke pulled Daisy's jeep over. Bo remained inside their car as he slowly lowered his forehead down against the steering wheel, then smacked the wheel angrily with his fist, while Luke quickly climbed out and walked over to his cousin without saying another word. Luke didn't know how to help him, but he refused to let Bo be alone no matter how much he might fight against him.

"He wasn't lying," Bo finally answered hopelessly. "You and I both saw the look on Uncle Jesse's face. He wasn't lying."

"Maybe not about what happened to her, but he was when he said that you're to blame," Luke responded confidently and he knelt down and placed a comforting hand over the younger man's shoulder. "You have to know that, Bo. Please, come back with me."

Bo finally lifted his head, allowing for Luke to see the tears in his eyes, then he roughly climbed out with his cousin's help until he pushed him away again as he replied somberly, "I can't… At least not right now I can't. He may have had good reasons for keeping this from me, but… Uncle Jesse lied to me, to us. And maybe my mother's death was no one's fault, but I can't help myself from thinking any different."

The older of the two shook his head as he looked pleadingly at the younger, but taller man in front of him and answered, "I know, I can only begin to imagine how you must be feeling, but I'm begging you not to leave. We need you, I need you. Remember our plans? Don't you remember that you and me are going to be at the top of the Nascar circuit together one day? Bo and Luke Duke, right alongside the name of Richard Petty, together. Just because Geoffrey Crocker, or Jeff Duke is your father by blood, it doesn't mean he has the right or the strength to destroy everything you've spent your whole life trying to make for yourself. Don't let him destroy you!"

"The real Duke was my mother and she died because I killed her," Bo replied angrily as he moved around to the passenger's side of the General, reached inside to the glove compartment and pulled out the pink-slip his cousin had given him before, then handed it back to him. "He needs to stay within the family. The General Lee is rightly yours. I'm going to drive him into town and get a room at the hotel for awhile until I figure out what to do. I've got a little money saved up. You can collect the General from Cooter's later, and when you do, or maybe Daisy, if she ain't too mad at me for running away, maybe you could bring me a few of my things, enough for me to get by?"

"Are you sure I can't talk you out of this?" Luke asked worryingly, as he took the slip reluctantly, knowing that refusing would do him no good. "Bo, please don't do this."

Bo turned his back on his cousin and carefully climbed back into the driver's seat, then he answered, "I'll be able to forgive Uncle Jesse and maybe one day, I'll even be able to forgive myself, but it's going to take time. Believe me, I don't want to leave you all, but I can't stay. It feels wrong, no matter how much you may disagree with me. Tell them I love 'em and you, I love you too, Luke. I'll see you around."

With that being said, Bo took off again, leaving Luke behind as he remained staring after him, feeling shocked and angry. Not at Bo, but at the stranger, who turned out to be his uncle and at his uncle, who had raised him and his cousins their whole lives. He knew that his anger toward Uncle Jesse was misplaced, but for the time being, Luke couldn't shake the feeling away. He feared that he just lost the person he loved like a brother for a second time, only this time was different. Bo was still recovering from his torment caused by their old enemies, and now the damage done wasn't physical like before. It was clear to Luke that Bo was broken and this time a rift has come between their family. The youngest believed he had no one to turn to and the oldest of the three cousins was lost on how he, or Daisy and their Uncle Jesse could prove to Bo that he belonged in their family no matter the truth of the tragedy that transpired so long ago.

Back in town…

Enos and Cletus were both busy making the proper calls to New York in hope of finding anything that could tell them who Geoffrey Crocker, or Jeff Duke, really was and just as Cletus was about to have Mabel place another call for him, he suddenly heard Enos say nervously, "Oh my goodness, it can't be true."

"What can't be true, Enos?" the younger deputy asked in confusion. "Did you find something?"

"We've got to get down to the Duke Farm right away and warn them," Enos responded as he ran around the booking counter and past Cletus toward the doors. "Come on!"

Cletus followed after his friend, but asked again, "What did you find out? Can you please slow down and talk to me? Enos!"

As they both got into Enos' squad car, Enos sped toward the farm as he replied, "Bo's daddy was a criminal lawyer, working for one of New York's biggest and most notorious criminals. Only there's now a warrant out for Crocker's arrest. He apparently killed a man and stole almost five hundred thousand dollars, then ran, along with another associate of his."

"Buzzards on a buzz saw," Cletus stated in shock. "If he's come here to Hazzard to try to get involved in his son's life as he claimed to…"

"Then that means Bo might be in real trouble," Enos interrupted out of fear for his friend. "Hang on."


	9. Chapter 9

You're a Duke

Chapter Nine

When Luke finally arrived back at the farm, he climbed out of Daisy's jeep and made his way toward the front door, but before he could go inside, the older cousin stopped as he struggled to come up with how to tell the rest of his family that Bo wasn't going to be coming back anytime soon, maybe never.

Cooter suddenly came driving down the road toward their farm in his truck and stopped alongside Dixie, then made his way over to his friend, looking at him in confusion as the mechanic noticed that the General Lee wasn't anywhere in sight. Together, they walked inside and found both Daisy and Uncle Jesse sitting down together at their kitchen table, waiting for any kind of word.

"Did you find Bo?" Daisy asked fearfully as she stood and turned to her cousin for answers. "Is he…?"

"Yeah, I found 'im, but he ain't coming back home, at least not for a while," Luke replied coldly, not meaning to be cruel toward his family, but was unable to contain his anger he felt.

Jesse looked down sadly as he remained in his seat, then responded softly, "I should have known this would happen if that boy ever learned the real truth. I never meant to…"

Luke quickly grabbed a chair and moved it in front of his uncle as he interrupted, "Why couldn't you have just told us the truth, Uncle Jesse, from the beginning? It would have hurt him, but we would have all been there to help him through it and he would have let us. Now, not only did he learn that you lied to us about how his mother died, but he found out harshly from his own father, who hates him because he blames him for her death."

"I don't understand, what's going on?" Cooter asked worryingly. "I was going to meet up with you all when you arrived in town earlier, but I got distracted by a customer who arrived at the garage just after I got off the CB. I came as soon as I could."

"It's a real long story," Daisy answered sadly. "That man really was Bo's father."

Luke shook his head as he stood and then replied curtly, "He ain't his father. A father wouldn't tell his own son that he killed his mother and abandon him when he was a baby because he wanted nothing to do with him."

Cooter looked at his friends in surprise as he responded, "That's horrible. Did he really tell that to Bo, to his face? But how did he not know, Bo I mean?"

"He didn't know because I wanted to protect him from the pain the truth has caused him, but in doing so, I only made his pain much worse," Uncle Jesse answered coldly, his anger being directed at himself. "I never expected my own brother to come back into our lives and create a rift in our family that might never heal."

"It has to," Daisy replied sadly. "We can't just leave Bo be. We have to let him know we're here for him."

Luke stopped her from going past him to leave as he grabbed hold of her by her arms, then responded, "He already knows we're here for him, but he needs space, and time, to think things through. He's angrier with himself then at anyone else, including you Uncle Jesse. He knows that you were trying to protect him, but… He's really hurting and he doesn't want to be around anyone right now, though he did ask for me or Daisy to bring him some of his things later once he settles in at the hotel in town."

Daisy moved toward her two cousins' bedroom as she said quickly, "I'll do it. I want to see him."

"He's not really mad at you, Uncle Jesse," Luke spoke quietly once she left the room, as he placed his hands on top of their guardian's for comfort. "I mean, he is, but he said that he will be able to forgive you. I am more afraid that he won't be able to forgive himself and if he can't…"

"His guilt will eat him alive and our family will never be whole again," Jesse finished for his nephew. "I should have known that man was going to cause trouble. I should have done something to prevent him from coming down here, but I…"

Luke stood again as he glared at the patriarch as he asked, "Wait, do you mean that you knew Bo's father was coming? And you didn't tell us, again?"

Jesse stood with his boy and answered, "No, I didn't know he would come here to Hazzard, but I should have known that something was about to happen the moment I received that package from him."

"The diary," Luke stated as the realization donned on him. "Bo's mother's diary, that was sent to you from him? But why? If he had it for all these years, why would he send it to you now?"

"Truthfully, I thought that just maybe it was because he was dying or something and he sent it to me because he felt guilty after all these years for stealing it the night Lily died and he left," Uncle Jesse replied in frustration. "I tried getting in contact with him, but he refused to take my calls. Now, after seeing him tonight, I believe that sending me that diary was just a ruse to try to mend the rift between us."

Cooter asked, "What makes you say that?"

Jesse looked between Luke and their family friend and responded, "I have a feeling the man's in trouble up north. He has a bad gambling habit and would find himself in trouble a lot back in the day. My gut's telling me his intention wasn't to hurt Bo necessarily, but that he was hoping we would take him back in and that he would be protected from whatever trouble he's in because we Dukes protect each other. However, after seeing his son all grown up, his hate for him came flooding back and he couldn't help himself."

"If he is in trouble and that trouble follows him down here…" Luke started to say until he was cut off by the sound of one of the squad cars coming fast down their drive.

"What in tarnation?" Jesse stated as he followed Luke outside, as did both Cooter and Daisy in time to see Enos pull in, Cletus sitting beside him in the passenger's seat. "Enos, Cletus, what on earth are you two doing here?"

Enos quickly got out of the car, followed closely by Cletus, then he walked over to his friends as he answered nervously, "I'm not really sure how to tell you all this, but… but…"

Luke saw the worry on their friend's face and replied gruffly, "Just spit it out, Enos. What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid that Bo might be in real trouble," the older deputy finally responded as he looked between them. "I mean, that man claiming to be his father, is real bad and if he's here to try to get to know Bo…"

"What do you mean, Bo's father is bad?" Daisy asked fearfully, looking for some kind of clarification.

Enos looked at the woman he loved sadly as he answered, "Boss Hogg and the sheriff asked me and Cletus to run a background check on him after you boys and him left the jail earlier. I didn't want to, but they ordered me to and I'm glad I did now. I discovered that Geoffrey Crocker works as a criminal lawyer for a man by the name of Damien Blake, one of New York's most notorious crime lords. It appears that Crocker might have killed a man under Blake's employment, then took off along with another associate, with almost half a million dollars."

Daisy gasped in shock as she cried out, "Oh God, Uncle Jesse!"

"If Jeff really did do this, or this Blake thinks that he did, then he and the rest of his men will definitely be looking for him and if they find him…" Luke replied until he cut himself off to think for a moment, then continued. "Bo could end up right in the middle of a fight between several really bad men. We have to get into town and find him. And find your brother too, Uncle Jesse. If only to get answers."

"Daisy, you come with me in the truck," Jesse quickly responded as everyone started running toward their own vehicles, Daisy following after her uncle, while Luke raced back to Dixie. "Luke, we'll follow you."

Cooter called out from his own truck asking, "Where did Bo say he was going?"

Luke called back answering, "We'll start looking for him at the hotel. Hopefully, that's where he'll be. I'm not so sure about Jeff, but he's really the least of my worries."


	10. Chapter 10

You're a Duke

Chapter Ten

Meanwhile…

The first thing Bo did once he arrived back in town was drop the General off at Cooter's like he told Luke he would, then entered his room after settling his payment with the clerk in the office downstairs and made his way to the bed, tossed his wallet onto the nightstand beside it, then finally sat down dejectedly as he ran his hand through his hair. Without thinking, the youngest Duke swiftly picked up the single pillow from behind him and threw it across the room. It certainly didn't appease his anger any, but it didn't stop him from doing so again, only with his shoes after he pulled them off.

After sitting with his legs hanging over the side of the bed for several minutes while he struggled to think about anything other than everything that happened between him and his family, he laid back across the bed and tossed his arm over his eyes as he finally allowed himself to cry openly. Bo discovered that his own birth killed his mother, learned that his father was still alive after all these years and that the man hated him, and he might have just lost the rest of his family because of his own stubborn pride and anger, all within one afternoon. It was overwhelming, as he had no idea what he was going to do from there on out.

Eventually he calmed down, then stood and moved to the window to pull the curtains closed, but before he could do so, he stopped upon seeing his father as he and another stranger were walking toward another room on the lower level of the hotel. Bo watched them when they were suddenly attacked by three other men, forced around to face them and held at gunpoint, then pushed inside the room as two other men walked in after them. Jeff Duke wasn't much of a father, but he was a man in trouble and Bo couldn't help, but feel obligated to at least find out what was going on and try to help him if he could. He and his family have helped worse. Bo wished then that Luke was there with him to help him come up with a plan, but he was on his own.

Bo quickly picked up his wallet and put it back into his pants pocket, cautiously made his way down the outside stairwell, walked slowly toward the room he saw them enter, then crouched down beneath the window and peaked inside as he listened carefully, hoping to be able to hear part of the conversation going on between the armed men and their hostages. As the window was cracked open slightly and it was clear that these men were angry, their voices grew more elevated the longer they talked.

The first thing he heard was his father's associate as he said harshly, "I already told you when you called us two days ago, we didn't kill your friend. We don't know who did. And we didn't steal your money."

The man appearing to be in charge scoffed and then responded, "I warned you, Sam. I warned you and Geoffrey what would happen if you ever lied to me and tried to double cross me. And I happen to know that you've done both."

"But we didn't… please Blake, don't… No!" Sam begged when all of a sudden, one of the other men raised his gun and fired two rounds into his associate's chest, using a suppressor to muffle the sounds of the shots so that no one else would hear what was going on.

Bo quickly ducked down and remained that way for over a minute, feeling shocked by what he just witnessed, then he waited, expecting to hear at least one more shot that would end his father's life too. However, he simply heard their voices as the conversation continued. Bo finally got up his courage to push himself back up to look inside again, but was interrupted when he suddenly heard the sound of a gun's hammer being cocked behind him. When he turned his head to look, Bo saw another man holding a gun aimed directly at his back until he slowly raised himself to his feet to face him as he raised his hands as well, the weapon now being aimed at his heart. The criminal motioned for Bo to move, pointing his gun toward the door, then kept it trained on the kid as they both walked inside and closed the door behind them.

"So, who is this now?" Blake asked curiously as he looked from the young blond haired man to the man who used to be his lawyer. "Is he a friend of yours, Geoffrey? He's a little young, ain't he?"

Jeff replied coldly, "He's no one. Just some local busybody is all. I don't know who he is and I don't know why he'd be snooping around here. He's got nothing better to do I suppose."

Another of the men raised his gun, sliding it up under Bo's chin to get him to look at him, then spoke to his ex colleague saying smugly, "Something tells me that he's not just someone here to snoop. Who is this kid to you really, Geoffrey?"

"It's like your associate said, I ain't nobody to him," Bo answered coolly, trying not to appear scared in front of the criminals before him. "He wouldn't blink twice if you killed me, but if you do, I can promise you, you will regret it. And you'll regret killing him too. We locals don't take kindly to anyone getting killed here in Hazzard, especially if our sheriff and police commissioner are actually forced to work. They like to make our lives miserable you see."

"Shut up, kid," Blake responded in frustration as he swiftly struck Bo across the side of his face with the butt of his own gun in order to see what kind of reaction he'd get out of his old friend, causing him to fall back heavily against the men who held him, but not down to the floor as they held him and pulled him back up. "You talk too much. But it does appear that you're right. My friend didn't even flinch. However, you didn't really come here just to pry, did you? Or are you really that stupid? What's your name?"

When Bo turned his head away and remained quiet, despite wanting to lash out at the man, one of the men reached inside his back pocket for his wallet, then opened it up to read his name off of his license, "Bo Duke, a local farm boy by the looks of it."

It was then that the leader of these criminals turned back to Geoffrey and smiled, then replied smugly, "Well now, Duke is the name, is it? Is that not the name you once went by a long time ago? Jeff Duke, wasn't it? Did you really think that I wouldn't dig deeper into one of my men who kills one of my associates, then steals from me? This boy seems a bit young to be one of your brothers, so I'm guessing he's a nephew, or perhaps he's your son. Am I right?"

"All right, he's my son," Jeff answered coldly. "But I told you the truth when I told you he was no one to me. And I don't care what you do to him. I don't even know him."

"That's pretty cold, my old friend, and I actually do believe you," Blake responded as he patted the man on his shoulder, then motioned for one of his other associates to pull out something that he brought with them to help get the truth about the whereabouts of his money from his former lawyer. "Which is why I am going to have to use this on you like I planned. I know that Sam never knew about you killing our friend before you took off for down here and I also knew that you were too greedy to share with him, so you double crossed him. It's a pity he didn't live long enough to learn about that."

Both Jeff and Bo saw that what the criminal had pulled from his coat pocket was a syringe wrapped inside of a leather pouch and as he emptied some of the liquid out to make sure that it was set and moved toward him, Jeff tried to pull away only to be held tightly as one of the men held out his now bare arm for their colleague to inject the toxin into. As their focus was no longer on him, Bo suddenly, to everyone's surprise, stomped on his own captor's foot and kicked him in his shin, then elbowed him in his stomach once the man's hold loosened and quickly punched the man who held the needle in his face in order to try to help his father break free. Jeff tried to do so as he joined in on the fight.

Unfortunately, Bo's attempt to break them both free didn't do much good as the man didn't lose his hold on the syringe, only lost control over who he injected it into within the chaos, that ended as soon as Bo cried out when he felt the needle stab him in his neck, then the liquid as it burned its way into his bloodstream. The men quickly grabbed a hold of the lawyer as well as the young man again and held them tightly as they forced Bo down to his knees.

Jeff stared down at his son, who had just attempted to save him, in surprise, while Damien Blake also looked at the kid with surprise, but knelt down in front of him once he got his composure back, grabbed his chin to force Bo to look at him despite the pain that was slowly rising within him, and said cruelly, "That was incredibly brave of you to try to help a man who would never think about doing the same for you, boy. But it was also very stupid. God knows why you did it. Don't worry though, the drug won't kill you, at least I don't think so. It's only supposed to create a hell of a lot of pain as it makes you very, very sick. It always forces my enemies to tell me whatever I want to know within the first couple of hours."

"What are we going to do now, Sir?" the man who still held the now empty syringe in his hand asked as he looked over at the man that the drug was supposed to be for. "You said it yourself, Geoffrey doesn't care about what happens to this kid. He's not going to tell us anything without more."

"Then we bring him to where we have more," Blake replied as his men dragged him out the door and toward the car they had driven into town in, parked just out front. "Bring his kid too. Perhaps his suffering might make Geoffrey feel regret."

Two men pulled Bo back up to his feet and dragged him out to their car as well, then finally someone asked, "Are we going to leave Sam's body here for the locals to find?"

Blake looked down at the body and smiled, then answered casually, "I think it's safe to say that we'll be long gone before anyone around here finds him. New York is a long way to go with a sick man. We'll find a more suitable place to hide and if we can't get what we want from his daddy before he becomes too ill, we'll dump him, then continue on."


	11. Chapter 11

You're a Duke

Chapter Eleven

At the Boar's Nest…

"So, have you come up with a new plan to frame the Duke boys yet, little fat buddy?" Rosco asked as Boss Hogg was finishing putting his sandwich together, which consisted of five mounds of meats and cheeses, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, olives, mayonnaise, and two different kinds of mustards. "Look, uh… Boss, you look like you have a little left over, so can I…?"

"No!" Boss quickly interrupted as he slapped his sheriff's hand away from the meat slices he didn't use on his meal as he attempted to pick it up from off the commissioner's tray. "I'll tell you what, what I don't get around to eating, you can eat, if I don't get around to eating it."

Rosco smiled as he answered, "Coo, coo, coo, I love it! But, wait a minute Boss, you never ever have any left overs. How am I supposed to eat, if there is nothing for me to eat?"

J.D. glared at him after taking a huge bite out of the sandwich that he held in his fat, little hands as he replied, "That's not my problem, is it fool?"

"No, I suppose it isn't," the sheriff responded sadly as he backed away.

"Don't you worry none, little brother," Lulu spoke up saying as she walked into her husband's office with another tray of food in her hands, then set it down on the table nearby. "I brought enough for you to eat too and J.D., if I find out that you've eaten any of what I brought here for my brother, I will put you back on that three bean diet again. Is that understood?"

Boss looked at his wife as he pleaded, "But sugarplum, you know how hungry I get when I'm…"

She cut him off as she said sternly, "I mean it, J.D. Not a bite!"

"Yes, of course, honey pie," the little fat man answered insincerely as she continued setting things up for her brother as Rosco took a seat at the table to get ready to eat. "This is unbelieve…"

" _Boss Hogg, Sir?_ " Enos suddenly called out over the CB. " _Sheriff, come in if yer there? Please!_ "

Boss Hogg finally reached out and grabbed the mic and when he swallowed he replied, "What is it now, dipstick? I'm in the middle of lunch, so if it isn't urgent, you better call back later."

The deputy quickly came back on as he responded, " _I'm afraid that it is urgent, Boss, Sir. You see, I think we've got trouble on its way here to Hazzard. Trouble from New York._ "

"What are you talking about?" J.D. asked in confusion as he took another bite of his sandwich. "What trouble from New York? Do you mean… Bo Duke's daddy! What have you found out about him? Can he help us put the Dukes back in prison?"

" _I actually think it will be him that we put in prison, Uncle Boss, Sir,_ " Cletus answered for his colleague. " _He's the real bad guy, at least, we think so. He's the one we need to be concerned about right now, we think._ "

Rosco stood up and walked back over to his brother in law's desk, then picked up the mic as he spoke again saying, "Enos, Cletus, what kind of bad guy could he possibly be, I mean, really? Of course, he is a Duke, so if he is a bad guy, it doesn't surprise me, but…"

Enos suddenly interrupted, " _Sheriff, we believe that Bo's father is a murderer, who worked for a major criminal until he stole half a million dollars from him and ran down here to hide._ "

"Half a million dollars!" Boss exclaimed excitedly as he swiftly pulled the mic from his sheriff's hands. "Did you just say a half a million dollars?"

" _Yes Sir, that's what I said, Sir,_ " Enos replied. " _We think trouble's coming and we could use your help to find both Bo and this new Duke in town. We're following Luke, Daisy, and Uncle Jesse right now.._ "

Boss Hogg nodded and smiled as he responded smugly, "Yes of course we'll help you find him, them… I mean, why are we trying to find Bo Duke? What's he got to do with this? He's not missing, is he?"

Cletus came back on as he said, " _We aren't exactly so sure, Uncle Boss. He might be._ "

"Oh dear, that poor boy," Lulu stated worryingly. "J.D. Hogg, you get yourself up right now and help your men and the Dukes find Bo, or so help me…"

"All right, all right, I'll do it!" Boss answered quickly. "Just please, don't threaten to move back into my… our room again. Anything, but that. I mean… I love you, my darlin' Lulu."

Lulu smiled and left her husband's office, then Boss rolled his eyes and blew out a breath as Rosco finally concluded, "Okay, Enos, and Cletus, we'll come help you. Where are you right now?"

Cletus replied, " _We're all heading back into town from the Duke Farm. Luke said that Bo might be staying at the hotel for a while. We don't know about his father of course, but we're worried Bo might be in trouble if this, Geoffrey Crocker's friends come here looking for the money he might have stolen from them._ "

"Fine, we're on our way," Boss Hogg responded in frustration, then released the mic and looked up at his sheriff smugly.

"What?" Rosco asked in confusion as he saw the greedy expression on Boss' face that he got whenever he got an idea for one of his schemes. "We are going to help the Dukes find Bo and his father, ain't we?"

J.D. continued smiling and laughed as he stood up, then said eagerly, "Of course we will and once we arrest this Jeff Duke, not to mention his son, Bo and that cousin of his, Luke, you and me are going to collect that half a million dollars and add it to my funds inside my bank."

Rosco understood as he followed his brother in law out the doors and then spoke again saying, "And I get fifty percent of fifty percent of fifty percent, right Boss? Boss? Boss!" 


	12. Chapter 12

You're a Duke

Chapter Twelve

Bo didn't have any strength to fight against the men that dragged him into their vehicle. Whatever he had been drugged with was increasing his pain slowly, but he had already been worn down from the dark, sudden turn his life had taken within only a matter of hours. He couldn't believe how quickly everything was spinning out of control and now his anger had made it so that he had no one around to help him this time. He was in trouble and he didn't see a way out. If Luke was with him, he wouldn't be as worried because his cousin always could come up with a plan to help them escape, and though he was afraid, what worried him more was that his family would never find out what happened to him. They were going to be crushed.

Bo ignored the conversations going on among the men as he struggled to focus on his surroundings outside his window as they drove further and further out of town. They were driving along route sixteen for several minutes when suddenly Bo caught a glimpse of Luke driving by them in Dixie, followed by their Uncle Jesse and Daisy in their uncle's truck, Cooter in his, and finally both of Hazzard's deputies, all pulling out from the crossroad that led up to the drive to their farm. As luck would have it, Luke also caught sight of Bo as he passed by the larger vehicle and quickly spun the jeep around in order to chase after them, immediately recognizing that his cousin was being driven out of Hazzard as the strangers' prisoners. Uncle Jesse and Enos did the same, though without knowing why.

"Shepherd to lost sheep, shepherd to lost sheep…" Jesse called out over the CB in attempt to get a hold of his oldest boy. "Boy, what are we doing exactly?"

"They've got Bo, Uncle Jesse!" Luke replied quickly. "The criminals who are after Geoffrey, that must be them and they've got Bo!"

Their guardian looked over at his niece worryingly, then back at the road ahead as he answered back, "Which means that they must have Jeff too. It's the only way they would have known Bo had anything to do with whatever the heck all this is."

Luke slammed his palm against the steering wheel as he continued driving as fast as his cousin's jeep would go and then responded, "If only I had the General, they're going to get away. Uncle Jesse, if they cross the county line… I don't care if our probation's now back in effect. I'll drive into Chickasaw County if I have to, to…"

Without caring about the consequences, Bo slowly reached down to the door handle beside him and as soon as the opportunity to escape came, as the car slowed down enough to turn around the curve, he pulled it down and when the door opened wide enough, he jumped out of the moving car with as much strength as he could muster up, landing hard upon the ground, then fell several feet down the steep hill beside the road until his body came to a hard stop at the bottom and continued to lie face down unmoving. Blake ordered his driver to keep going, despite having lost their leverage over the man who had his money.

"Bo!" Luke fearfully cried out as soon as he saw his cousin jump out and immediately slammed on the jeep's brakes, then jumped out and ran down after him, falling several times before finally collapsing beside Bo's body as he carefully pulled him into his arms, not only seeing several scrapes and cuts he believed were caused by the fall, but even worse, seeing the sweat that covered his brow and chest from the fever rising within him. "Oh God, why did you have to go and do that? Hold on, I've got you."

"Luke, is he… Is Bo alright?" Uncle Jesse called out from the top of the hill as the older cousin looked up toward the rest of their family, seeing Daisy and Cooter as they both started climbing down the hill more carefully to make their way to them.

Luke quickly lied as he called back, "He's fine, Uncle Jesse! You and Enos and Cletus need to keep after 'em! Daisy and me will take care of Bo!"

Uncle Jesse nodded regretfully, not wanting to leave his children alone, but did as his oldest said as he quickly got back into his truck and continued after the men who still had his brother, while the two deputies followed after him, having stopped as well upon seeing their friend jump. By the time Daisy and Cooter made it down and ran over to them, they all looked up as they heard another siren and watched as Rosco's squad car went by as well, continuing on after the three vehicles ahead.

Both Luke and Daisy struggled as they worked to straighten Bo's body out while he continued to hold him and it was then that Cooter noticed a strange mark on his friend's neck and brought it to their attention as he asked worryingly, "What's that there on his neck? Is he bleeding out?"

"It's a puncture wound," Luke replied fearfully as he gently turned Bo's head toward him so he could get a closer look at the tiny bleeding mark. "Oh my God. We've got to…"

"It was an… an ac… accident," Bo interrupted weakly as he struggled to look up into his cousin's eyes. "I was a fool. They were… go… going to hurt him… I had to hel… help…"

Daisy grabbed his hand and squeezed gently, pulling it up and held it to her cheek as she answered, "You mean that man who tried to say he was your daddy? Were the men after him going to hurt him?"

Luke finished for him as he responded, "They were going to inject whatever was in the needle into Jeff until you stepped in to try to fight them off, to protect him. Did they say what was inside the syringe?"

"No… they didn't give much time… before… I couldn't just… let them hurt him," Bo replied sadly as he closed his eyes, then suddenly arched his back and cried out in pain. "I'm so… sorry. Please don't… don't leave me."

"We're not going anywhere, cousin," Luke answered as he pulled Bo closer and held him tightly as Daisy began to cry openly, while Luke struggled to keep his tears back. "Yer going to be alright, you'll see. We've got to get you back… we're going to take you home and have Doc Petticord come to take a look at you. Cooter, I'm gonna… I need yer help to carry him. We can hold him between us as we go around to where it ain't so steep, then climb our way back up."

Cooter nodded and helped his friend lift Bo in between them as Daisy quickly asked, "Do you boys got him?"

When he was sure he had a tight hold on his cousin, Luke responded, "Yeah, we've got him. Let's get him home."


	13. Chapter 13

You're a Duke

Chapter Thirteen

As soon as their younger captive pushed open the back door and jumped, Blake tried to shout out for his men to stop him before he could, but it was too late. Crocker's son didn't hesitate to escape and the crime lord's men were too slow. If it wasn't for the parade of cars that suddenly spun around to chase after them, their leader might have had his driver stop and his men go after their captive, but as one of the vehicles was a police car, he knew he couldn't chance it. He ordered his man to keep driving, not knowing that everyone behind them had stopped upon seeing the boy jump over the side of the hill.

Damien looked back at Geoffrey, who had his head turned as he stared back at the spot where his son had jumped, then when they were out of sight, the lawyer chuckled and Blake studied him as he said coolly, "You're impressed by your son's fearlessness. I'll admit that I underestimated him as well."

The lawyer looked back at her former employer as he responded, "I am a little impressed, but not surprised. My son has taken on my brother's spirit, as I'm sure that the rest of the siblings have as well. I don't care for my brother or my son and they know it, as they share the same feelings for me, but you saw my son's disregard for his own safety when he put himself between me and your man."

"And yet he just abandoned you now," one of the other men sitting beside him answered smugly.

"Sir, they're still coming!" the man driving the car called out nervously upon seeing the pickup truck and the two squad cars chasing after them minutes ago coming up on them once again. "What do you want me to do?"

Blake replied in frustration, "These small town folk are nothing if not persistent. Just keep driving. We need to get ourselves out of Hazzard all together. The sheriff won't be able to arrest us outside of their jurisdiction."

Meanwhile, Jesse kept driving after the men who still had his brother, the men who had taken his youngest nephew hostage, as did the deputies, sheriff, and the crooked county commissioner. However, the criminals were well ahead of them and each of Hazzard's law enforcers were starting to believe that they would never be able to catch up, but Jesse wasn't willing to let them get away with the things they've done so easily. He wasn't as quick to come up with a plan as Luke was, but he knew things about the back roads outside of town that no one else did, including his nephews and niece. He also knew that the only other person who would understand what he was about to suggest would be his one competitor since they had been ridge runners back in the day.

Jesse quickly grabbed the CB as he called out, "J.D. I know you've got yer ears on, so listen up! We've got to cut these criminals off before they get to the county line or we're never going to be able to get them behind bars and that black hearted brother of mine is as good as dead. I may not like 'im, but he is my brother and I ain't going to let him disappear anywhere except for inside a prison where he belongs."

"If you hadn't noticed, we're almost at the border now and we ain't ever going to be able to catch 'em, even if we was driving the General Lee," Boss Hogg responded curtly. "Unless…"

"That's right, yer going to cut off onto that hidden road you and me used to take a long time ago runnin' shine to hide from the lawmen and then jump the gully where you'll come out right in front of them to cut them off, if you time it just right," Jesse finished for him when he knew that his old friend understood what he was getting at. "And don't try to say I'm crazy, cause I've seen you and Rosco both make all kinds of jumps trying to chase down my boys. Once you do that, me and yer deputies will block 'em in."

Boss looked over at his sheriff and stated, "You heard him, Rosco. We're goin' to turn onto the road hidden by them trees coming up ahead."

Rosco objected as he replied, "But Boss, we're going to scuff up my vehicle if we do as Jesse says."

"If you don't do it, yer fired and you won't get your fifty percent of fifty percent or fifty percent I told you you'd get," the fat man in white responded coldly. "I want that money so do it!"

Without another word, Rosco quickly crossed over to a hidden crossroad at Boss Hogg's instruction, swerving away from Highway Sixteen, while Enos, who had also heard the plan over the CB, continued on after Jesse. Just ahead of them, the men who had taken hostages and were trying to escape could see the county line indicating that they would soon be out of Hazzard. However, just when they thought they were clear, the sheriff's car came flying at them from another direction and suddenly crashed into them, knocking the strangers and themselves off the highway and into a ditch.

"Coo… coo… Ooh, well that was a horrendous crash," Rosco said as he gathered his wits and fought the crushed in door to break himself free from the wreckage. "Are you alright there, Boss?"

J.D. laughed and smiled as he too worked to get out of the squad car, then answered, "Of course I'm alright! I'm about to collect half a million dollars."

Cletus came running over as he cried out, "Uncle Boss, sheriff, are you guys okay? Didn't you hear you were supposed to cut them off, not crash into them?"

"Of course we're fine, you numbskull," Boss Hogg replied eagerly, ignoring his own nephew's attempt at mocking them for crashing the vehicles. "Arrest these criminals, on the counts of theft, kidnapping, and well… we'll figure the rest out later. I'll take the mon…"

"No you won't, J.D.," Jesse interrupted firmly as he also came around while Rosco, Enos, and Cletus all worked to handcuff each of the men, quickly realizing that they didn't have enough cuffs for all seven of them, then led them all to the one good squad car left and the rest into the back of Jesse's pickup truck. "That there's stolen money, or blood money. We're going to call the proper authorities to make sure that it goes to exactly where it belongs."

Finally, the family patriarch turned to face the man who was his brother, then Jeff spoke up first saying, "Everyone in this backwoods town of yours sure are crazy, Jesse, but for what it's worth, I'm grateful for the save."

Jesse glared at him as he responded angrily, "I didn't do it fer you. I did it for my nephew. Now, tell me how he got caught up in yer mess and don't tell me it wasn't yer fault!"

"He got himself caught," Geoffrey answered curtly. "He was spying on me and my former employers caught him. Him getting himself drugged was his own fault too."

"Drugged, what do you mean he was drugged?" Uncle Jesse asked fearfully as he grabbed hold of his brother's coat. "You tell me what yer talking about, right now!"

The lawyer shoved him away as he replied, "Your kid jumped in between them and me when they tried to inject me. It's what Blake does to people he wants answers from and seeing as I hid the money I stole… I didn't ask him to protect me and I sure as heck didn't expect him to."

Boss interrupted, "You mean, you don't have the money on you?"

"Ignore him, keep talking!" Jesse responded as he tightened his grip, refusing to release his brother until he got the answers he was looking for.

"I don't know what kind of drug it was," Jeff continued in frustration. "Blake discovered it during some interrogation he watched an old friend of his direct before I started working for him and he stole it, then chose to test it out on some poor sap several years ago. It didn't kill the man, but he felt a hell of a lot of pain and became sick. The truth was, I was appalled, but he spilled his guts ten minutes into his men's interrogation. It's a great tool to get people to tell us what we want to know. I just never expected it to be used on me one day."

Jesse released him, then motioned for him to get inside the passenger's side of his truck as he answered coldly, "But it wasn't used on you, was it? You and me are going to drive the rest of your friends into town, where you all can get booked, then I am going to go find my kids and so help me, if my youngest boy dies from this wonder drug of yers, I'm gonna…"

His brother replied, "Don't worry, Jesse. So long as, my son has the will to keep breathing, he'll be fine in a few days."

"You don't get it, do you Jeff?" Uncle Jesse asked sadly as he started up his truck, then turned to face him. "You just might have stolen that from him the moment that you came back into this town."

"I guess we'll see in a few days, won't we?" the man stated.


	14. Chapter 14

You're a Duke

Chapter Fourteen

When Jesse finished turning his brother over to Rosco and Enos to be booked and placed behind bars along with Damien Blake and the rest of his men from New York, the family patriarch had Mabel place a call to his home to find out if his family was there, upon the firm instinct that it was where Luke and Daisy had brought Bo, despite the condition he now knew his nephew was in. The youngest of his children had been in the hospital, in a coma, for over six weeks, having finally been released after eight, not more than two weeks ago. It was one of the most painful times in all their lives and as such he knew that the Tri County Emergency Hospital would be the last place they would take him unless there was no other choice. They would call on Doc Petticord first or Doctor Appleby, should Doc be out of town.

"Uncle Jesse, thank goodness you're home," Daisy cried softly when their guardian walked in the door of their farmhouse, then ran into his arms as he pulled her close, while Cooter remained silent as he stood at the far end of the room and waited.

"How is he?" Jesse asked as he moved with her into his bedroom where his older nephew and Cooter had laid his youngest upon his bed, already really knowing the answer as he sadly looked down upon his boy, who was lying ill, in between the state of consciousness and unconsciousness as he was forced to suffer through agony that was clearly both physical and emotional. "You three were right to bring him home. Have you already called for Doc yet?"

Luke stood and gently released his hold on his cousin's hand when their uncle moved in to take over caring for Bo, like their guardian always did whenever one of them were sick, while Daisy continued administering cold compresses to his forehead and across his chest as the oldest answered worryingly, "We tried to get a hold of him, but apparently he's out of town and Doctor Appleby is busy taking care of Mr. Rhuebottom, who came down with a bad case of the flu last night. We had no choice, but to call for a Tri County doctor. Luckily, Daisy was able to convince him to make a house call. Bo's been drugged somehow, Uncle Jesse. I don't exactly know how, other than that he somehow stepped in to protect the man responsible for all of this."

Jesse nodded as he took the compress over his nephew's chest from Daisy and continued her process, then he responded, "I know it. I spoke with my brother as we escorted him and his friends to jail. All Jeff knows about whatever's in him, is that it's used to make people suffer, but not to kill."

"So says him!" Luke cried out angrily as he suddenly knocked over the lamp and everything else lying on top of the nightstand beside their uncle's bed. "Bo was barely recovered from his injuries caused by Benson. He's only been out of the hospital for two weeks and he's still suffering from nightmares. Now, your brother comes along and tells Bo he's responsible for killing his own mother, then puts him in the middle of a fight against one of New York's biggest crime bosses!"

"Take it easy, boy," their guardian replied as he stood up and swiftly grabbed hold of his other nephew in order to try to calm him down. "I know what Jeff has done and I am not, nor will I ever defend him, but you need to keep your wits about you, do you hear me? Bo is strong enough to fight through this, as he was strong enough to survive what Benson did too."

Luke was on the verge of breaking down as tears formed in his eyes when he answered, "You didn't hear him earlier. Bo no longer believes he's worthy of being a Duke. I gave him the pink-slip to the General signed over in his name for his birthday, for when we would eventually leave home to start our own lives. When I went after him, he gave it back to me and said that he needed to stay within the family. He believes Geoffrey about being responsible for his mother's death and nothing I said made him believe any different. He's broken, Uncle Jesse. He's broken and I don't…"

Jesse quickly pulled Luke into his arms before his oldest collapsed, while Daisy cried quietly as she continued to care for her cousin, then Luke spoke again saying, "I can't lose him, not again."

"We ain't gonna," their uncle responded firmly.

Three days later…

The fever that had taken a tight hold over the youngest of their family finally broke within the night, but several hours passed and Bo still hadn't awakened. His family remained a constant vigil at his bedside, hardly leaving him at all except for when it was necessary to take care of things on their farm and he was never left alone. Cooter had left later that evening, then returned the next day along with Enos so that they could return the General Lee to where he belonged and to see how their friend was doing. The doctor had also come by more than once to treat Bo, and like he and the rest of the hospital staff had back when he had fallen in the coma, he underestimated the young man as he had told them not to hold out hope that Bo would recover. Everyone simply ignored him and told him to keep his opinions to himself while he did his job.

It was getting late into the evening of the fourth day when Bo began to stir and when he did, Luke leaned in close, tightened his grip over his cousin's hands, and spoke to him softly in an effort to try to coax him awake, reassuring him that he wasn't alone. As soon as Daisy walked into the room and saw that Bo was coming back to them, she ran outside as she shouted out to their uncle, who was inside their barn milking the cows, to join them as quickly as he could.

"Yer going to be alright now, cousin," Luke spoke quietly as he put his head down briefly to say a silent prayer in thanks for helping him to pull through. "I was afraid that you weren't going to make it, but you proved me wrong. I should have known that you would. Bo? Please, I need you, brother."

When he still didn't answer, Uncle Jesse stepped in and took a hold of one of his hands as well, then said, "I need you to listen to me, Bo. I know that yer hurting and I know that I didn't help you none by keeping such a horrible secret from you, but I promise you that it wasn't because I was afraid you couldn't handle the truth. I wanted to spare you the pain. Lily, your mamma, didn't die because of you, Bo. She died because of injuries sustained in an accident that could not have been prevented, whether you were being born that night or not. You're a Duke and nothing can ever take that away from you. Please Bo, let us know that you understand."

All of a sudden, Bo squeezed their guardian's hand, as well as Luke's, as he continued to hold onto his other one, then Bo finally spoke up very weakly saying, "I he… hear you, Uncle… Jesse."

Cooter came back to the Duke Farm the next morning, and when he walked inside, he found Bo sitting up in bed as Luke and Daisy were fussing over their cousin, doing things for him that he couldn't do himself such as feeding him, as well as changing his bandages, on account that he was still very weak. However, Bo was talking again and their mechanic friend saw that he was looking better than he had since he had come to visit the day before.

"Well I'll be, you sure are lookin' good," Cooter stated happily as he came over and reached out to take his friend's hand in his. "Welcome back, buddy roe. I knew you wouldn't let that man beat ya. Yer too stubborn to die."

"Thank you, Coot," Bo replied as he smiled up at him, then pulled his hand free and turned away as he laid his head back against the pillow behind him, then stared at Daisy as she continued to rewrap the large gash on his other arm, caused from when he jumped from the moving car. "Are you almost done, Daisy? I told you, you don't need to…"

Daisy cut him off as she answered, "I'll fuss over you for as long as I want to, sugar. It's the price you pay for being foolish enough to think you could fly."

Each of them laughed, as Bo understood that she was only trying to cheer him up by teasing him, even though he knew in hindsight that jumping from the car was the right thing to do, otherwise he might have ended up dead. However, his memories of all that had happened within the last few days suddenly came flooding back as he shifted his weight and winced. Luke and Daisy both saw this and were about to change the subject until their uncle entered his room and did it for them.

The guardian looked over at their mechanic friend as he said, "Mornin', Cooter. Yer here bright and early. Ain't it wonderful, Bo's already starting to feel better and it won't be too long before he's able to git behind the wheel of the General."

"I'm not so sure about that, Uncle Jesse," Bo responded as he laid his head back again. "I really don't… think that…"

"If you're still thinking that he don't rightly belong to you, yer wrong," Luke replied as he placed his hand over Bo's as Daisy finally finished. "Bo, I thought we had gotten through to you?"

Bo looked over at him, then between their uncle, Daisy, and Cooter and answered quietly, "I haven't changed my mind about the things I said before, Luke. I was wrong to be angry at you Uncle Jesse, seeing as you were only trying to protect me like you have yer whole life, but I can't just forget what happened. It's going to take me some time. But don't worry, I ain't leaving again. I had no idea what my plan was going to be. As fer the General…"

Daisy interrupted, "The General Lee is as much yers and he is Luke's and nothing you ever say or do will ever change that, whether you believe that yer a Duke or not. And if you deny that you are one more time, Bo Duke, I will rip all of these bandages off and we will start all over again. Is that understood?"

"I think she means it, boy," Uncle Jesse responded as he gently placed his hand on the side of his youngest's face and turned his head to make him look directly at him. "All foolin' aside, Daisy's right. You are as much my nephew now, as you were the moment I took you into my arms on the night you were born. In time, you will forgive yourself and we will be as patient as you need us to be. By the way, I am proud of you fer protecting my brother despite everything he's done, Bo. He has been charged with multiple offenses, including murder, for which I am certain he shall be going away for the rest of his life, seeing as he ain't much younger than me. He will not be bothering you ever again. It is his loss for being such a fool. His last name may be the same as ours, but he certainly ain't no Duke."

"Thank you, all of you, for not giving up on me," Bo replied sincerely, as tears formed in the corners of his eyes, then pulled his hand away and looked over at the man he loved like a brother rather than a cousin. "And Luke, it looks like Nascar will be seeing our names together at the top as we planned after all, so long as it's what you still want."

Luke smiled as he took Bo's hand in his own, then said with conviction, "It's as I told you before, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Cooter suddenly shouted, "Yeeehaw! This calls for a celebration! Boss Hogg didn't get that stolen money and Bo Duke is back! Yahooo!"

The End


	15. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have read and have written reviews for my stories! They are much appreciated. I'm honored to have you all for fans and I hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of my work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


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